Jerseygirl, or anyone else who might have knowledge of this. I have heard that it's better to go according to the glycemic load rather than the glycemic index, and I am wondering what this means in terms of a low carb diet.

Jerseygirl, or anyone else who might have knowledge of this. I have heard that it's better to go according to the glycemic load rather than the glycemic index, and I am wondering what this means in terms of a low carb diet.

Hi Wannabehealthy
Glycemic load refers to how much consumption of a particular food raises your blood sugar. The basic formula for finding the glycemic load of a food is to multiply the glycemic index by grams of carbohydrates and divide by 100. Lower glycemic load has been linked to a lower rate of heart disease. A diet that is lower in carbohydrates automatically has a low glycemic load.

The low glycemic load diet is a more "relaxed" approach as compared to Atkins being more stringent. For example, the low glycemic load diet permits potatoes, rice and flour products but, tells you not to consume more than 1/4 serving at a time. No soft-drinks, no fruit juice. There are no strict rules and the goal to get into ketosis is non-exsistant.

All that said, Atkins is a low glycemic plan. The focus on Atkins is high fat and moderate protein while veggies also play a very important part.